American Ethanol has broken first ground on its way to a planned two billion gallons of annual ethanol production.

The Chicago-based company broke ground last week on the first of 15 planned 100+ gallon-per-year facilities in Nebraska and Illinois. Sutton, Nebraska was the site for the ceremony on Thursday, according to this story from the Lincoln Journal-Star. Another groundbreaking is expected shorly on a similar plant by the same company in Wahoo, Nebraska.

According to the American Ethanol website, they have three additional Nebraska sites in permitting, as well as four sites in Illinois in the permitting process, with six other Illinois sites currently under negotiation.